Mobile browsing now the norm for travel sites

March 1, 2017

The mobile revolution is upon us in the travel industry. We've been trying to get travel brands to prepare for it for, well, as long as we can remember, but now it's officially here.

New research shows that mobile is now the primary means with which visitors interact with travel sites. We've reached the tipping point; there's no way back for desktop devices now, they will always play second fiddle to mobiles from here on in.

More than half of visitors to travel websites are now using mobile devices in Brazil, India, the UK and the US, as per EyeforTravel's 'Understanding the Travel Consumer's Path to Purchase' white paper.

In India, consumers are even more reliant on their mobiles for accessing the internet, with two-thirds of the traffic to travel websites coming from portable devices.

The UK isn't far behind, with 57% of daily visitors to travel sites using mobile devices. Brazil and the US follow with 54%.

The research comprised capturing clickstream data of more than 100 million consumers, tracking visitors across major travel sites in each country.

Is it time to concentrate on your mobile site?

Yes and no. If you have an under-developed mobile site, then yes, it's time to focus your efforts on bringing it up to scratch. However, you can't just forget about your desktop site while you work on your mobile platform.

EyeforTravel's findings show how consumers are adopting a multichannel approach to researching and then purchasing travel i.e. they're starting off on their mobiles before moving onto their desktop devices to make a purchase.

As such, desktop conversion rates are considerably higher than mobile rates in all the countries studied in the research.

Alex Hadwick, head of research at EyeforTravel, says that the younger generations are leading the travel industry into a mobile-led future.

He said: "The demographics we have studied in this paper are clear, with younger generations clearly more inclined to use mobile devices compared to older generations."

"Although baby boomers are still the generation with the greatest disposable income, millennials are now the largest generation demographically in the West and alongside the populations in developing economies, which are also younger and more mobile-focused, they will change the way travel is viewed and consumed."

How Digital Trip can help

If you feel like you're a bit behind the times with your mobile site, in light of these findings, then you'll be pleased to hear you're in the right place. Our fully optimised mobile platform can cater to those travellers who already feel comfortable booking on their mobiles.

Meanwhile, for those that prefer to plan and search on their mobiles, but purchase on their desktop, our mobile platform might just give them the confidence to not have to use their desktop computer at all.